In 2025, fire departments serving Cortlandt responded to 107 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
560 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $518K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 112 | — | |
| 2022 | 108 | -3.6% | |
| 2023 | 123 | +13.9% | |
| 2024 | 110 | -10.6% | |
| 2025 | 107 | -2.7% |
For the 4 building fires Cortlandt departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 54 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 25.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 18.5% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Cortlandt mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 37.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 9.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cortlandt departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cortlandt sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 17,709 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Smoking | 2,855 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,028 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 998 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 866 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 9.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 11.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 12.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 34.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 6.2 mi |
Top 9 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Cortlandt. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.